


Pre-War Sports Are Strange and Confusing

by qrantaire (rivenjolras)



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, IT'S ME, M/M, bowling, guess who spent about five minutes trying to bowl in-game?, there's a real bowling alley at General Atomics Galleria, with pins still standing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5742040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivenjolras/pseuds/qrantaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kieren takes Deacon bowling, Pre-War style. The unexpected happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pre-War Sports Are Strange and Confusing

The day originally started as a salvage run, the hunt for circuitry bringing the pair of agents to the General Atomics Galleria. Kieren hadn’t gotten three feet in before the head Mr. Handy inquired about their arrival- and after a stressful talk with a Mr. Gutsy dubbed “The Director”, Kieren landed a new job. No oversight needed, and Kieren was free to stuff circuit boards and pull power coils out of deactivated robots to his heart’s content. The other man had grumbled but followed after him with his own heavy pack, and took anything Kieren found in each building with little resistance.

“After you, Mister Supervisor.” Deacon mocked as he held open the door to the bowling alley for Kieren. He rolled his eyes, but accepted the gesture for what it was- a quaint Old-World kindness that Deacon had read about somewhere, seen in some holotape, or something. Perhaps he did these things because he’s starting a movement, maybe because he thinks ‘chivalry’ is hilarious- Kieren is certain he wouldn’t get a straight answer out of him if he asked.

A Mr. Handy behind the counter regretfully informed them that the bowling lanes were closed for today. Deacon snorted, and Kieren shot him a look before replying “That’s too bad.” The Handy seemed pleased with the answer and left them to explore, if they wished.

Kieren flirted with the idea of seeing if he couldn’t do something about the general state of disrepair of the alley- but to put so much effort in for a Pre-War pastime that no one but ghouls and himself would even remember how to do just seemed wasteful. He ran his fingers along a shelf and left trails in the dust. Deacon coughed somewhere close by.

“You know, I would totally bowl, except I have a thing about bowling shoes. And I’d hurt my back. A lot.” Deacon drawled sarcastically. 

Kieren laughed and rolled his eyes. “Alright, old man Deacon. I highly doubt anyone is going to make you wear the shoes here, anyway.” He picked up a bowling ball experimentally and slotted his fingers into the holes. It was heavy in his hand, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a group of pins in perfect formation.

“You know… if you don’t mind picking up the pins afterwards, we could play a couple rounds.” Kieren said nonchalantly. He thought of teaching Nora to play, his hands over hers, and explaining strikes and spares in his teenaged high voice. 

Deacon raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Yeah, sure buddy, I’ll play. If you don’t mind me wiping the floor with you, that is. I’ll even let you go first, as a sign of my boundless good will.” 

“Ah- no no.” Kieren chided playfully. “Clearly, I need to watch the master go at it first if I’m to have any hopes of winning. You first, Deacon.” He placed the ball heavily in his hands. Deacon looked stunned and let out a small ‘oof’, but quickly recovered.

“Oh, yeah? Well, if you insist, pal.” 

Deacon looked at the bowling ball in his hands and turned it around. He awkwardly slipped three of his fingers into the holes, not quite holding it right, and gave up on trying. He took a shaky step forward, then another one, more confident, before throwing the ball overhand directly into the gutter. The ‘thud’ was extremely loud in the mostly open space, and the Mr. Handy called a “ _Careful, sir, you’ll damage the floors_!” from behind its desk. Deacon turned to Kieren and gave him a sheepish thumbs up. 

Kieren howled with laughter, his pitch climbing into the hysterical range. “Oh yeahhhh, Deacon, you’re champion bowling league material for _sure_.”

Deacon scowled, but there was no actual heat to it. “Yeah, yeah, so I was born at least a hundred years after the last lanes were nuked to all hell- so what?”

Kieren wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes, and let out a deep, shaky breath. He thought of his first date some two hundred and twenty odd years ago, and suddenly an idea came to him. “You know, I could just teach you.” He tried slowly, careful not to smirk.

Deacon’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Alright, lead the way, boss.”

Kieren picked up another bowling ball, walked to Deacon, and placed it in his waiting hands. “Now you’re going to want to place your fingers in every slot, and keep them straight.” He gently guided his warm right hand over where it was supposed to go. Kieren became hyper-aware of Deacon’s gaze through his sunglasses. He had his full attention now.

“You’re going to want to step forward with your left foot as you roll it underhanded- don’t throw it-” Kieren stepped behind Deacon, and gently pressed up against him, snaking his own arms around to guide him. He could feel him tense, then try to relax without much success. No going back now. “- and make sure you bring the ball up to approximately a ninety degree angle.” Kieren held his breath for a beat. His chest was pressed firmly against Deacon’s back, and his right leg was against his. He gently pulled back Deacon’s throwing arm for him, without resistance. “Try now.” Kieren said, barely above a whisper. Deacon nodded, took a half-step forward, then threw it, much too low. The ball, barely controlled, did manage to get all the way down the lane, but only hit two outside pins. “Well, that’s a start, I guess, but you’re going to want to bring the ball back as far as you can, so that you can fully take advantage of the momentum. Imagine a wind-up toy.”

Kieren picked up another ball nearby, far past giving enough of a fuck about retrieving the others, and repeated the action. He helped bring his arm back again, and Deacon pulled it back even farther. Kieren noticed how warm he was, like a furnace, and the back of his neck was red. He pressed a kiss to it, without really thinking. Deacon yelped and let go of the ball too early, and it made an audible ‘crack’ against the floor before sluggishly rolling away. Kieren took a step back in shock, and Deacon turned around, half-wild. 

“Oh geez, I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking-” Kieren started, more startled by the noise than anything else.

“Hey, no, it’s fine. Really.” Deacon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “You just- you gotta warn me before you do something like that, boss.” He looked away, his expression resembling someone getting caught with their hand in a cookie jar.

Suddenly, Kieren understood. He took a measured step forward, into Deacon’s space. The other man stiffened. Kieren smiled, and gently kissed him. Deacon let out the breath he had been holding, then responded in kind. Kieren pulled back an inch. “You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do that.” He said tenderly.

“No, I guess I didn’t.” Deacon said with a laugh. Kieren closed the distance again, pressing sweet and short kisses to his waiting lips. Eventually, Deacon relaxed enough to bring both his hands to Kieren’s cheeks, holding his head in place. Time seemed to slow, and all he was aware of was their own breathing and the sounds of lips meeting.

“You know, boss,” Deacon murmured against his lips, “..if this is what you really wanted, you could have just asked.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a fraud. I'm actually terrible at bowling. *looks at how to bowl videos at 1am in the morning*


End file.
